Three Reasons (+1) You Should Be Traveling With A OnePlus 6

I’ve long been a fan of OnePlus, the Chinese phone maker that, for years, has been releasing Android phones that offer big value and performance at very competitive prices. You see, the smartphone world is very competitive and tough. Apple and Samsung command a large portion of the market share and there are a few other phone makers who try to stand out by cutting costs or offering unique features.

As dads, especially traveling dads, we need technology that can keep up with our needs and our on-the-go families. We don’t have time to fuss around with dead batteries, shotty pictures or slow phones. Enter OnePlus. This brand excels at delivering high performing and massively capable phones that happen to also be very feature-rich phones that happen to be perfect for travelers.

Let’s run down the top features that make the OnePlus 6 highly capable and traveler-friendly.

The Price

First, let’s talk about price – the OnePlus 6 starts at $529 out the door. There are no contracts and no fuss with a carrier sales person – you simply go to OnePlus.com and buy the phone. At that price, you get a phone that has the latest technology including a SnapDragon 845 processor, 6 gigs of RAM, highly capable camera and stunning design.

OnePlus brings us phones that are $300 cheaper than the top Android phones, like the Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+, and deliver virtually the same experience.

A Monster Battery and Dash Charging

The OnePlus 6 has a 3300 mAh battery, which puts it in the top range of all smartphones out there. Another huge difference with OnePlus – they don’t load bloatware on their phones that causes massive battery drain with a traditional Android phone bought at your carrier store. What’s bloatware? It’s all the extra apps such as music apps, messaging apps and carrier-installed nonsense that cause your battery to drain much faster. Also, with the OnePlus 6 (and all OnePlus phones for that matter), the company optimizes Android for performance and efficiency.

If you do have a day where your usage is high and your battery needs a little boost, enter Dash Charge. OnePlus’ proprietary charging technology that delivers a 60% charge to the battery in just 30 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly – OnePlus’ charging technology is the fastest in the phone world.

After 2 years of using Dash Charge on OnePlus 3, OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 6 – I can attest that Dash Charge works well.

OnePlus Phones Are Unlocked and Dual-SIM

OnePlus knows that people sometimes travel internationally. Also, they don’t want to be tied to any specific phone carrier. This is why the OnePlus 6 comes factory unlocked – ready for your T-Mobile, AT&T or any international carrier you want to use it on. So, you don’t have to worry about begging your carrier to unlock your phone if you go abroad and want to use a local SIM.

Secondly, this phone is dual SIM – meaning you can have two active SIMs in at one time. Why is this useful? Many times when you travel abroad, you can get faster and cheaper data and messaging by using a local SIM. For instance, last year, I went to Paris for a work trip. I wanted to have my United States T-Mobile SIM active so I could text with my ‘normal’ phone number with my friends and family back home – but I wanted to use a local French SIM for high-speed data while I was in the City of Love. No problem with OnePlus – I was able to use both my T-Mobile SIM and the French one simultaneously, with NO need to carry two phones.

Top-Notch Camera Delivers Great Photos and Video

With the OnePlus 6, the company delivers a high-quality camera. I’ll admit, over the years, OnePlus has been known for sub-par cameras, but with the 6, the company finally came through with images that rival photos from top-notch Android phones, even the Galaxy S9+.

Here’s an example of a selfie taken on the OnePlus 6 that has uses the ‘portrait selfie’ mode:

The OnePlus 6 has two cameras, that are 16mp and 20mp each, with the second camera delivering great ‘portrait’ style images. Video can be shot in 4K at 60 frames per second, which deliver life-like videos that capture memories the way you remember them. For low-light or night photos, the phone has optical image stabilization, that enables you to take clearer photos.